One of the benefits of being on the Board of Directors of the social club at work (I’m the President and Communications Director) is that I get to plan events that I’m interested in! We have over 1100 members in our social club, so it’s not an insignificant group of folks… we do a lot of fun things!
A couple years ago I set up a Mexican cooking class at Cuisine et Chateau (link here) and it was very well received, so I thought it was time to do another one. I chose Thai this time, since it’s a menu that fits well with celiac (gluten-free), dairy-free and even vegetarian (by serving eggs instead of chicken or seafood).
Upon arrival we could purchase drinks from the cash bar (they took all forms of payment except for debit) and we enjoyed two amuse bouche or appetizers – a roasted potato and a cracker with goat cheese and a balsamic vinegar drizzle. Both were tasty, and it made me happy to know that my T-Fal ActiFry roasted potatoes are comparable to that which a Chef can make!
The evening was a combination of demonstration and hands-on cooking. We watched Chef Thierry Meret walk us through the first course menu items – how to cut the veggies, which ingredients go into which pot in what order, etc. etc. He showed us some basic knife skills and gave us some cooking tips. Once we were taught how to make the dishes we broke out into our own groups of 8 or 9 people and worked together to create our own dishes, plate them and eat them together as a group. While we were cooking Chef Meret walked around to check on us as did Chef Rafael Hernandez-Alarcon – another friendly and passionate Chef who works at the cooking school.
The first item we made was a classic Thai coconut milk soup with prawns and mushrooms called Tom Kha Goong. This was my favourite dish of the evening. We made ours with all the hot peppers that they gave us – it left each of us with that spicy but flavourful burn in the back of the throat. We were given the recipes, so this one I will make again.
Another part of the first course were the fish cakes. The tilapia was already put through a meat grinder so the messiest step was taken care of. I quite liked the flavour of the cakes; however, I thought the fish was too fishy. I’d use this recipe to make fish cakes again, but I’d use another white fish other than tilapia, or perhaps even shrimp.
The cucumber peanut salad was awesome – I’ve never before thought of putting peanuts in a cucumber salad, but with the cilantro and the slightly sweet and spicy dressing, this was a hit that I need to make at home. Thankfully we have the recipe!
Our second course was demonstrated again before we broke up into our teams to cook it. I think by this time it was after 9pm… I can’t believe how much food I ate at such a late hour!
The Pad Kra Pao Gai is a basic stir-fry dish with ground chicken and rice. The ground chicken was seasoned with veggies, garlic, chili and Thai basil, served on fried rice with lots of veggies in it. Honestly, I’ve made stuff like this before at home, without a recipe, and it was just as good. That being said, I know there are many people who are not creative in the kitchen and who would appreciate the direction.
For dessert we got to torch some bananas and I got to try something completely new to me – a sweet Thai black rice. The coconut black rice pudding with glazed bananas was good – not too sweet… but not something that I’d go out of my way to make or order at a restaurant. I think it would be awesome on a warm, tropical beach somewhere, with a rum in one hand and this dessert in the other. Food often tastes better where it was created.
All in all, everyone had a great night and enjoyed the learning experience. We ate so much food (I was so stuffed) and it was a late night, but it was neat to interact with the Chef, friends, and the food, in an open and friendly environment. If you need a team building or social club activity, I highly recommend you check out Cuisine et Chateau in Kensington! It’s a really neat facility and the people who work there are great.
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